Aftermath
by waiting4morning
Summary: Sakura realizes something as she heals Hinata... and Kakashi's injuries in the battle with Pein were more extensive than he realized. For the second time in his life, a young medical nin must tend to his eye. Two oneshots. Heavy spoilers for manga!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

* * *

Sakura had never wanted to hurt anyone so badly.

Instead, she continued kneeling beside the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, bandaging what wounds she could from the field kit she had scrounged out of the wreckage of the hospital. Sakura was almost out of chakra, but popping another soldier pill would only add her name to the list of the dead—_don't think about that now. _

Team Gai had found Hinata in the shelter of a pile of rubble, and Neji had spotted Sakura not too far away, anxious to take her to the fallen kunoichi. A small part of Sakura wanted to refuse, but the larger part, the medical nin of the Hidden Leaf, had immediately followed to where Hinata lay. Thankfully, Gai-sensei had convinced Lee, Tenten, and Neji to go look for medical supplies and other people in the rubble—Sakura didn't think she could handle them crowding around her at the moment.

Hinata was sprawled out on the ground, her curtain of glossy hair in a matted tangle around her head. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and one arm lay at an awkward angle. But she was breathing and her heartbeat seemed steady. The worst wound was on her leg—looked like she'd been stabbed dangerously near her femoral artery. Luckily, it appeared that Hinata had the sense to tie the leg off with a hasty tourniquet before falling unconscious, so she wasn't in immediate danger of bleeding out. Sakura worked as quickly as she dared, splinting the broken arm and tying it securely in a makeshift sling over the other girl's neck. Sitting back from the physical patching, Sakura placed both hands above the girl's torso and let the real work of chakra stitching begin.

Just as Sakura was finishing up, Hinata's pale eyes blinked slowly and then focused on Sakura.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she said hoarsely.

The sound of that name from her lips made the slender thread of Sakura's self-control snap.

"You _bitch_," she said, her green eyes hardening.

Hinata's lavender eyes blinked and then she frowned. "What's wro—?"

"He's GONE, you idiot!" Sakura screamed, suddenly grabbing Hinata by the collar of her jacket and yanking her forward so fast that the other girl gasped in pain. "Don't you know anything about Naruto?"

"I—"

"Naruto told us to stay away for a reason! He couldn't focus if he had to protect everyone, but I guess that didn't apply to YOU! YOU had to get in the middle of his fight! You had to break his concentration! You were _stupid_ enough to think that you might give some hope, might do something against the most powerful enemy our village has faced in decades! Thanks to you, Naruto freaked out! Six tails! SIX! Do you know what that means?"

"But—"

"And now he's gone, and he's going to die at Pein's hand and it's YOUR fault!" Sakura was trembling. She wanted to punch the other girl, wanted her to fight, wanted some outlet for the yawning gulf within her. Her hand seemed to rise on its own volition and connected with Hinata's face in a stinging slap that snapped the other girl's head to the side.

"_Juuken!"_

Sakura felt two of her ribs crack as the hand that wasn't Hinata's connected with her torso. She dropped Hinata with a startled yelp and skidded across the ground, the rubble tearing at the exposed flesh of her legs. A kunai slid into her hand instinctively, but she paused before throwing when she saw Hinata hold out her good hand toward another Konoha nin, a pale-eyed Hyuuga that she didn't recognize.

"Leave her alone."

"But, Hinata-sama—"

"Please, Ko."

The other nin subsided, though Sakura thought it was more due to his leg—which appeared to be broken—rather than Hinata's order. His face was gray with pain—he looked as if he might collapse at any moment. Sakura gingerly felt her ribs and saw black spots dance in her vision; definitely cracked. But she wasn't a kunoichi trained by one of the Sannin for nothing. Sakura closed her eyes briefly, sequestered the pain to a different part of her mind, and stood. Ko watched with unbelieving and wary eyes as she walked to where Hinata was still huddled on the ground.

Sakura stood over the other girl for a moment, then abruptly opened her med pouch and withdrew a couple of pills.

"Take these—one's a blood pill to replenish what you've lost. This other one is for the pain."

Hinata hesitated, then took the blood pill but not the painkiller.

"Don't be an idiot," Sakura said, frowning, "you're still hopped up on adrenaline so you're not in much pain, but you'll be feeling it soon enough, and then you'll be wishing I had punched you unconscious."

Hinata flushed and took the painkiller. She fiddled with it a moment, before popping it in her mouth and swallowing it dry. Sakura turned away, her muddled emotions finding outlet in the one thing she was good at—healing. The other Hyuuga nin—Ko, she remembered—had collapsed to the ground, groaning and clutching at his leg.

"Hold still," she ordered, drawing near. "I need to set it."

Ko glared at her, the muscles in his jaw clenching. "Don't… touch… me—"

"Ko!" Hinata said in a sharp voice. "Sakura-san is trying to help you. You will show her respect!"

The Hyuuga nin opened his mouth to argue more, but the Hyuuga heiress looked uncharacteristically stern, so he subsided as Sakura bound his leg to a plank she had retrieved from the surrounding debris. He didn't last as she set the bone, however; he lapsed into unconsciousness as she jerked the leg into place.

"All the better for him, I suppose," Sakura muttered, working faster now that the man's hands weren't in the way.

"Sakura…"

"What?"

"Why… why do you hate me?"

Sakura blinked and looked up from where she had been tying secure knots from a torn curtain to hold the splint in place. Hinata sat propped up against a boulder, tears streaking clean marks down her dusty face.

"I don't hate you," the medical kunoichi said at last. "I just…" She bit her lip. "You have so much, Hinata. Any kunoichi would trade her best jutsu to have what you do."

"W-what do you mean?"

Sakura cast her a disbelieving look. "Are you serious?" Hinata looked only more confused. Sakura sighed. "You're the heiress to the most powerful clan in Konoha, you wield a formidable bloodline trait… and have you checked out yourself in the mirror lately?"

Hinata frowned, looking more confused than ever.

"And…" the words fell from Sakura's mouth painfully, and she could feel the tears she'd been holding back for so long prick at her eyes. "And you were brave enough to do what I couldn't." There, she'd admitted it. She'd watched horrified but thrilled as Naruto faced down that… that _monster_ and then when Pein had pinned Naruto to the ground, something in her froze. She'd wanted to go to him so badly, but her training and the needs of the dying multitudes called out to her.

She could have run to him, could have thrown one useless punch and then she would have been dead, no use to any of the thousands hurt in the wreckage. But all that hadn't mattered to Hinata. When Sakura had seen the timid kunoichi face Pein, something in her had shifted. Why was she so angry? Why did this hot feeling of envy overpower even her grief? And why did she wish that it was her standing over Naruto saying those words?

A dirty hand, the fingernails broken and bloody, reached out to touch hers. Sakura looked up. Hinata offered a tremulous smile.

"It's not easy, is it?" the Hyuuga girl said in a quiet voice.

"Young mistress!" One of the slug clones called out to Sakura from a wooden beam sticking out above her.

"What is it, Katsuyu-san?" _Not more dead, please…_

"Naruto is alive! He's controlled the demon fox on his own and is now stable. One of my clones is with him and it appears that the enemy may be too weak to fight anymore."

Sakura gripped Hinata's hand, their eyes meeting with shared relief. "Thank God," Sakura murmured, feeling Hinata's tears drip down on their joined hands. "Thank God."

She was trying to make Hinata more comfortable without making her actually move when Chouji came bounding up, his face streaked with blood and dirt.

"Chouji! Are you hurt?" So relieved to see someone alive and moving under their own power, Sakura ran up to the beefy young man, eyes scanning for any injury.

"No, I'm fine. Sakura, you need to follow me. Kakashi-sensei—"

"Lead the way," she interrupted and looked back at Hinata.

"I'll be fine," the Hyuuga girl assured her. "Go!"

Sakura paused, torn. "Your chakra stitching still needs a few minutes to set. If you reopen it, you could bleed out…"

"I'll look after her," said a new voice. Kiba, looking dusty and disheveled, hopped over a crushed wall on Akamaru's back. The big dog stopped beside Hinata, and Kiba jumped off.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata stirred, as if to stand up.

"Hey, what'd the lady say, Hinata? Don't move." Kiba chucked his teammate on the head gently and gestured at Sakura. "Get out of here. I got this."

As she followed Chouji over the ruins of destroyed buildings, a new hope buoyed Sakura's flagging spirits. Naruto was alive. The number-one unpredictable ninja hadn't given up at all… and neither should she.

* * *

Author's Note: I started this story immediately after the publication of chapter 437, but it didn't have an ending until "Seeing the Past" (the next oneshot about Kakashi) came along. I had to fudge canon slightly but after rereading the chapters, it's not hard to imagine something like this happening as the scenes of Hinata's healing actually consist of only a few panels. Anyway, I should also mention that I adore Hinata as a character so this isn't a Hinata (or Sakura for that matter) bash fest.


	2. Seeing the Past

A/N: This was originally published as a standalone piece, but I added another oneshot that I had sitting around unfinished on my computer... turns out it's a perfect companion and segue to this story about Kakashi! Sorry if you get the notification and are confused...

* * *

He _hurt. _

"Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei?"

Something was wrong, horribly wrong.

"I'm... alive." Kakashi tried to stand, but a meaty hand came down on his shoulder.

"Not so fast," Chouza rumbled, squinting at the wreckage around them. "Alive you may be, but you're bleeding. Chouji, see if you can find a medical nin."

"Yes, sir!"

The burly youth, his tattooed face beaming with happiness, leapt away with surprising grace, easily maneuvering between the piles of rubble.

Kakashi swiped at his face, feeling wetness. Tears? No, his hand came back glistening red and he remembered with a gut-churning shock what Pein's last attack had been. A nail whistling through the air...

Obito... His hand fell from his face.

"_Rin… Kakashi, are you okay?" _

_A terribly small, pale face peering at him from beneath a boulder. _

"_Obito!" _

_Their tug on his arm and their push on the rock was pointless and he told them so. _

"Sensei!"

Kakashi jerked. Sakura was scrabbling across the rubble toward him. She looked dirty and exhausted; her usually bright eyes had dark circles smudged beneath them. He recognized the thin veneer of control she held over her emotions and knew that she would break down soon. Most ninja did every once in a while, especially after a catastrophe like this... but usually they found a private place before the tears started. He just hoped she would too.

"Yo," he said, in a pale imitation of his usual cheer. "Ah, Sakura, you don't need to check on me, I'm sure there're many other—"

"Where are you hurt?" she demanded, ignoring his dismissal.

Kakashi glanced at Chouji and Chouza who watched from the side. Surprisingly, it was Chouji who got the hint.

"_Tousan_, let's go see if we can help dig more people out of the rubble. That slug—Katsuyu-san—said that there are others coming back to life."

"Right, let's go." Chouza nodded at Sakura, as if handing over Kakashi's care, and the two left.

"Okay, now where..." Sakura trailed off as Kakashi opened his left eyelid, ignoring the throbbing pain as best he could. He couldn't see through it, but his right eye was fine and the horrified shock on her face was not inspiring. Great. Now he'd have to find a way to shake her back into professionalism, but his head was aching too much for him to think too clearly...

"_If I'd done what you said from the beginning, to come back and rescue Rin, none of this would have happened! It's my fault! What kind of shinobi am I?" _

"Are you in much pain?"

Kakashi smiled wryly to himself. Again, he'd underestimated her. Sakura's shock was still there, but she'd pushed it aside quicker than he had, and was already rummaging through her medical nin pack.

"I've… been better." He paused. "Did Katsuyu tell you...?"

"That Naruto's alive?" Sakura's face softened with a tremulous smile. "Yes.... Here." She handed him a canteen of water and half a ration bar. "Eat. The painkiller I'm going to inject might make you sick if you don't have something in your stomach."

Kakashi paused. Sakura stared at him. He stared back with his good eye.

"Oh, for crying out loud," she said, turning around with a huff. Kakashi lowered his mask and downed the ration bar in two big bites, washing it down with a few gulps of the lukewarm water.

"Can you remove it?" Kakashi said, letting her know it was safe to turn around.

"The nail? Yes... When was your last vaccination appointment?"

"Eh...."

"Sensei, please tell me you've had a tetanus shot."

Kakashi shrugged. "It might have been a few years. These types of things aren't really on my priority list."

"And reading trashy literature is?" Sakura grumbled under her breath. "Some genin are digging through what's left of the hospital to recover any medicine that's salvageable, but it's unlikely that anything in a glass vial survived. So you'll have to check in with Shizune or me as often as possible… in the next few days. We can monitor and keep an infection under control with a seal for awhile, but you will need the shot eventually."

Kakashi nodded with uncharacteristic docility. It really wouldn't be nice to wake up from Pein's last attack only to die of an infection.

"Let me take a look before I do anything." She disinfected her hands with quick bursts of chakra.

Kakashi opened his left eyelid again, the pain nearly making him vomit, and kept the other eye half open as she knelt close to examine the wound.

"_Rin, with your medical jutsu, please take out my sharingan and implant it into Kakashi's left eye...." _

"_This will hurt, Kakashi-kun," Rin whispered, eyes red-rimmed, "If I give you a painkiller strong enough, you won't be able to fight..." _

"Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"How attached are you to this eye?"

"_I can become your eye…" _

"Why do you ask?"

"You may lose it." Sakura sat back, brushing a strand of dirty pink hair from her forehead. "The nail went in deep to where the optical nerve connects to the brain. Pein's resurrection jutsu must have shaken it loose, but from here it appears that the nerve may be severed."

"_And from now on I will see the future…" _

"Can I still keep it?"

Sakura looked surprised. "Sensei, you may never see out of that eye again. But it's not inconceivable that we could do an eye transplant..." Her voice trailed off.

Kakashi finished for her. "But you can't because of the existing scar tissue, correct?"

Sakura nodded, looking miserable. "Tsunade-sama told me about... about the mission where you got… the sharingan, in case I would ever have to treat an injury like this." She paused, biting her lip. "There is a chance that it might recover. I... I don't know how much a sharingan is different from a normal eye. Perhaps there are additional protections..."

Kakashi let her hopeful words die in the air between them. They both knew that the chance of him ever using the sharingan again were slim to none.

Well. Only one thing to be done.

_I will see the future… _

"Seal it."

"What?"

"Take the nail out and seal the wound for now. I need to go find Naruto. If he's not back by now—"

"Things appear to be finishing up," said a gentle voice behind Sakura. One of Katsuyu's clones wiggled its eyestalks in their direction. "Pein is dead."

"Did Naruto...?" Sakura half stood, staring at the slug.

"No, young mistress. I cannot be certain, but it appears to be chakra exhaustion."

Kakashi let out a relieved breath. Finally. Sakura stared for a moment toward the horizon where Naruto in the demon-fox form had last been seen and then turned back, refocusing.

"Roll up your sleeve," Sakura ordered, retrieving a hypodermic needle from her pack. "This painkiller will help when I remove the nail."

"No painkillers. I need to be able to think and move."

"But, sensei—"

"Do it, Sakura."

"_Kakashi, protect Rin..." _

_Rin's tears as he pulled her up. "Obito!" _

"_Rin, we have to move!" _

Sakura smoothed the sealing paper over his eye, and the bleeding stopped almost immediately. Kakashi could even feel the pain receding to a dull throb as the seal interacted with his body's chakra.

"It's done," she said, her voice quiet. Kakashi struggled to his feet, staggering a little as blood rushed from his head. Sakura found his forehead protector in the surrounding rubble and handed it to him, her eyes solemn and weary. He tied it on, lowering it to cover the seal paper, and reached out a hand to tousle her hair like he had when she was still a kid. She looked up, surprised.

"Have Katsuyu spread the word about Naruto and gather the village. I'll bring him back."

Amazingly, his ninja supplies had survived, though the pouch was torn and would have to be replaced as soon as things settled down. Kakashi turned his back to Sakura to bite down on a soldier pill, relishing the quick influx of strength and energy. As well as increasing his depleted chakra reserves, the soldier pill also acted as an adrenal stimulant, making the pain in his body easier to ignore: for the moment, anyway.

Kakashi rubbed some blood from his face onto his palms, flashed through familiar hand seals, and slammed his palm on the ground, the spidery lines of text barely visible over the rubble.

"_Kuchiyose no jutsu!" _

His ninken appeared as the smoke cleared, tongues lolling out, ears perked and alert. Pakkun stopped mid-yawn as his habitual lazy eyes widened at the destruction around them.

"Kakashi, what—"

"I'll explain later," he interrupted, going among them to pat heads and rub behind ears. "There are a lot of people buried around here, guys. Dig where you can and lead others to the rescue. Got it?"

Affirmative barks all around. Kakashi nodded. "Pakkun, you're with me. The rest of you, disperse!"

They left in a flurry of wagging tails, noses to the ground. Pakkun leapt to his shoulder as Kakashi raced through what had once been the market street, filling the little dog in on what had happened.

"Naruto's going to be coming from somewhere," he finished as they approached the tree line right outside the village. Amazing, really, that something was still standing… "And you know his scent best."

"Got it." Pakkun leapt down, and Kakashi stopped on a convenient branch, out of breath despite the soldier pill still crackling through his veins.

_I can become your eye… and from now on I will see the future… _

Kakashi rubbed at the blood trickling from beneath the seal. "Not anymore, Obito. Now you can only see the past."

* * *

Author's note: this fic came from a confusion on how extensive Kakashi's injuries actually were and what might he be thinking should he lose the thing that's propelled him through the years. So, yeah, I'm not sure if the sharingan is actually gone in canon, but I think it would be interesting if it was one of the casualties of Pein's attack.


End file.
